RSA Weekly For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia
Friday 4 October 2024 Hi , In recent years, we've been raising concerns with the New South Wales government about alarming content being taught in Christian and Islamic scripture classes in the state's public
schools. Now, according to claims by members of the Hindu community, it seems children are being taught the caste system as a beneficial thing in Hindu classes. Will the government continue to ignore these concerns? See our report. If you'd like to share something you've seen online or comment on articles in the RSA Weekly, feel free to email me on editor@rationalist.com.au. Si Gladman Executive Director, Rationalist Society of Australia |
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| RSA RSA calls for examination of church businesses’ impact on
competition4 Oct: The Rationalist Society of Australia has called on federal and state governments to examine the impact on business competition of tax concessions for church-owned commercial enterprises. In a submission to a public consultation on ‘Revitalising National Competition Policy’, the RSA said tax concessions for commercial enterprises with charity status for ‘advancing religion’ was unfair to competitors. Read the full article |
| CRIKEY Fact check: No, anti-Islamophobia envoy can’t ‘prosecute’ people for insulting Islam4 Oct: The new anti-Islamophobia envoy can prosecute Australians who insult Islam online,
social media users claim. This is false. The role is advisory and doesn’t have the power to pursue criminal proceedings against people. Read the full article |
| ABC Catholic Church found liable for historical sexual abuse by Newcastle priest 3 Oct: A dying man has been awarded more than $500,000 in damages in a
landmark case involving the Catholic Church. The Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle was found to be directly and vicariously liable for the man's abuse at the hands of a priest who taught scripture 55 years ago. Read the full article |
| THIRD SECTOR Regulator restricts aid charity’s spending amid unauthorised payment concerns 3 Oct: The UK Charity Commission has restricted the spending of
the international aid charity Barnabas Fund amid concerns of unauthorised payments to trustees and inappropriate control by its founders. The regulator last month said it had opened a statutory inquiry into the Christian charity. Barnabas has offices in the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. Read the full article |
| THE INDEPENDENT UK has more atheists than people who believe in God, new research claims 2 Oct: The UK now has more atheists than people who believe in God,
new research has said, with experts saying "the UK is entering its first atheist age". The news comes from the global project Explaining Atheism which explains why atheism has grown both in the UK and around the world. Read the full article |
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| RSA Hindu SRE classes teaching caste system in NSW public schools,
claims report 1 Oct: The seating arrangement for children attending Hindu scripture classes in New South Wales public schools is based on caste hierarchical order, according to claims made by members of the Hindu community. A report produced by the Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia earlier this year reveals a “vehement objection” to the way Hindu Special Religious Education classes are run.
Read the full article |
| CATHNEWS Queensland inquiry rejects bill to protect babies born alive after abortion 1 Oct: A parliamentary committee has recommended the Queensland
Government reject a bill that would protect babies who survive late-term abortions and are left to die. Katter’s Australian Party leader Robbie Katter introduced the Babies Born Alive Bill earlier this year to protect these newborns under the law. But a parliamentary committee last week recommended the Government reject the bill. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Labor appoints British Australian academic Aftab Malik as new Islamophobia envoy 30 Sep: The Albanese government has announced British
Australian academic Aftab Malik as the special envoy to combat Islamophobia in Australia after months of delays. Anthony Albanese said in early July that two envoys would be established: one to tackle antisemitism and another to look at Islamophobia during the war in Gaza. Read the full
article |
| AP Pope gets an earful from Belgian king and abuse victims over scandals and failures to respond 28 Sep: On a brutal day for the frail and aging Pope
Francis, the king of Belgium, its prime minister and the rector of the Catholic university that invited him here all ripped into the institution he heads for a spectrum of sins: for covering up cases of clergy sex abuse and being far behind the times on embracing women and the LGBTQ+ community in the church. Read the full
article |
| USCCB Church should be ashamed, beg forgiveness for crime of abuse, pope says 27 Sep: The Catholic Church must plead for forgiveness for the crime of the
abuse of minors by its members and everything must be done to prevent such "a disgrace" from ever happening again, Pope Francis said. He also called for clarity about the church's role from the 1940s to 1980s in coercing unwed mothers to give up their newborns. Read the full
article |
| THE GUARDIAN Taliban to be taken to international court over gender discrimination 26 Sep: The Taliban are to be taken to the international court of justice
for gender discrimination by Canada, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands in a groundbreaking move. The move announced at the UN general assembly is the first time the ICJ, based in The Hague, has been used by one country to take another to court over gender discrimination. Read the
full article |
| GO GENTLE Telehealth must be available for VAD 26 Sep: A coalition of leading health organisations has joined Go Gentle Australia in calling on the Federal
Government to urgently amend a law impacting Australians who choose voluntary assisted dying (VAD). The joint statement has been co-signed by 19 organisations including AMA Queensland, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and the Australian Federation of Nurses and Midwives. Read the full article |
| GREEN LEFT NT Greens MLA ‘will look at’ voluntary assisted dying bill 23 Sep: Voluntary Assisted Dying advocates believe the best chance for the Northern
Territory to restore VAD rights now lies with a private members bill. While the new Country Liberal Party Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said in opposition that she supported VAD, she has now told ABC Radio in Darwin her government has “other priorities”. Read the full article |
Philosopher Sam Harris speaks with podcaster Rich Roll on a wide range of topics, including critical thinking, meditation, reason and science, consciousness, and AI. Social media, he says, is "poised to render us effectively ungovernable". What do you think? Email your comments to: editor@rationalist.com.au |
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| RATIONALE The ‘new’ antisemitism conflates criticism of
Israel with prejudice against Jews Dennis Altman: The history of antisemitism stretches over several millennia. It arises almost everywhere Jews have chosen to cling to their religious and cultural identity, against the dominant majority. What is ‘new’ today is that arguments about antisemitism now blur into bitter debates over the Israel-Palestine conflict. Read the full article |
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| RATIONALE Letters to the Editor: Agnosticism the ‘only
rational choice’ Michael White: I was pleased to hear Richard Dawkins on the Daily Stoic contradicting his earlier declaration of being an atheist (one who disbelieves or denies the existence of a god) (RSA Weekly, 13 September 2024). He has now classified himself as an agnostic verging on atheism. Dawkins had previously, as a declared atheist, unreasonably asked, on a scale of one to 10, where
agnostics place their probability of the existence of god. Read the full article |
| PEARLS & IRRITATIONS Given the choice, would my wife have chosen to 'let dementia take its course'? Ian Chubb: This is an emotional story
for me. It is personal. It is a story about my experience. It is not about mandates or compulsion. It is about choices. It is about giving individuals the right to choose how they want to end their lives, should they later be afflicted by life-ending, dignity and quality of life destroying diseases. Read the full article |
| NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY (UK) Blasphemy is a catalyst for progress. Let’s celebrate it. Steven Evens: International Blasphemy Day, 30 September,
was created "to remind the world that religion should never again be beyond open and honest discussion". It was established after the publication in 2005 of 12 cartoons depicting Islam's prophet Muhammad by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten led to worldwide riots. The founders wanted to "dismantle the wall which exists between religion and criticism". The wall, however, remains very much intact. Read the full article |
| ABC Regulating the spread of mis/disinformation online is not an attack on freedom of speech Jordan Guiao: Freedom of speech does not exist in
Australia — at least not in the way Americans refer to it, the way it’s been popularised on social media. As the government looks to regulate harmful misinformation and disinformation, this frequently misunderstood phrase once again enters the public debate. Read the full
article |
| UNHERD Macho Christianity is flexing its muscles Mary Harrington: Is he the messiah? Or just a very naughty boy? Since Russell Brand found Jesus
he hasn’t stopped talking about it, whether on TikTok, or Tucker Carlson’s live show, or while baptising other men in a lake while clad only in his tighty-whiteys. Then, over the weekend, he and Jordan Peterson led a crowd of 25,000 outside the Washington Monument in the Lord’s Prayer as part of the Rescue the Republic gathering. Read the full article |
| UNHERD The genesis of the MAGA Bible Matt Rowland Hill: It has been more than two decades since I walked away from the evangelical Christian
faith in which I was raised as a preacher’s son, but I still know blasphemy when I see it. In an ad for his God Bless the USA Bible, Donald Trump — with his marigold skin and porcelain teeth — looks less like a political leader, let alone a spiritual one, than a late night shopping channel host. Read the full
article |
| MERCATOR Australia’s Labor government has turned its back on people of faith again Michelle Pearse: The Costs Protection Bill will enable claims
to be made against Christian schools without the ordinary risk that if the claim fails, the claimant would have to pay the legal costs incurred in defending the claim. This opens the way for relatively cost and risk free lawfare. It’s a very obvious consequence. Read the full article |
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